Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 49,170 complaints - component: SUSPENSION
MERCEDES-BENZ
E350
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Mar 10, 2022
Incident date: Feb 9, 2022
Hello, I was driving one night I hit the brake and the car lost control ..I was able to drive home afterward I took the car to a shop and after inception They found the rear K sub frame rusted and broken. The car in excellent shape with no rust or corrosion in any other area. The car has 108k miles and always parked indoor.
Incident date: Mar 10, 2022
Air conditioner drain drips directly on subframe cross brace for front cradle, erosion and road grim along with neverending dripping water even from using defrost leads to rust and cross brace breaking into and well you can use your imagination for what happens next. Drain needs extended and re routed because I know I can't be the only one with this problem.
MERCEDES-BENZ
C350
(2008) - SUSPENSION
Mar 10, 2022
Incident date: Mar 10, 2022
The rear subframe is corroded, the rear subframe is a structural part of the car that Mercedes refuses to cover under warranty or issue a recall for even though it is issued under recall in Canada
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
Had the recall corrected at auto gallery Chevrolet in commerce Georgia in December they put new parts on and car wasn’t driving properly I returned it and they put the old parts on then it was driving better than before but It was eating the back tires off went through 2 sets of tires then took it back to dealership and they did alignment when returned it was roaring and still eating tires off t... Read more
Incident date: Jan 21, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 Ford F-350. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle experienced the death wobble. The failure recurred while driving approximately 50 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failur... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Nissan Altima. The contact stated that while reversing out the driveway, the rear lower control arm detached from the vehicle. There was an unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the lower control arm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure... Read more
Incident date: Mar 5, 2022
I have a ford f250 that now has the death wobble. [XXX] near ran me off the road. Very scary situation while driving. I have an appointment for an independent service center to take a look at it Monday of next week. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Incident date: Feb 27, 2022
The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Murano. The contact stated that while driving at 64 MPH, the vehicle became wobbly. The contact stated that after driving over a pothole in the roadway while she was driving on a bridge, the failure almost caused the vehicle to crash into the side of the bridge. The contact veered to the side of the road and inspected the vehicle but could not determine the cause of ... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2011) - SUSPENSION
Mar 9, 2022
Incident date: Feb 14, 2022
The frame is rusted very bad. I took it to a shop to see if it could be repaired and was told that it can't be repaired it will have to be replaced. This is a 10 year old truck the frame should not be rusted. I have additional photos. It is rusted down both sides of the frame
Incident date: Feb 16, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Honda Accord. The contact stated while driving at 70 MPH on a mildly rough road, the vehicle wobbled significantly. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact continued to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who test drove the vehicle on a smooth road and diagnosed that no issues were found. The dealer advised the contact that the issue was wit... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
Steering wheel has been vibrating. Took to pass safety inspection and failed due to rear motor mount defect.
Incident date: Aug 15, 2021
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle would shake. The check engine and stability trac warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer; however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact informed the dealer that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in NHTSA C... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
I was made a turn at roughly 15mph and the front passenger side control arm sheared in half causing me to lose control of the vehicle and then abruptly come to an immediate stop. My family was in the car and at a higher speed this could have been fatal. Had there been any vehicles behind me that could have caused an accident with unknown results. Had this been moments early I would have been in a ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
The upper control arm on my vehicle creaks and it is a known issue amongst the Tesla model 3 owners. This creak can eventually wear to the point the ball joint will separate during driving. This is a safety issue that can cause an accident. Tesla denied the warranty repair due to some after market parts. This is not a valid reason to deny me warranty because this issue is prominent in all cars of ... Read more
MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER
(2005) - SUSPENSION
Mar 7, 2022
Incident date: Mar 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander. The contact stated that while his mother owned the vehicle, she received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V458000 (Suspension). She took the vehicle to a dealer and upon inspection of the vehicle, the dealer found no defect with the lower control arm and sprayed an anti-rust agent on the part to prevent corrosion. Recently, the contact stated t... Read more
Incident date: Mar 7, 2022
While driving, I heard a loud pop followed by a loud grinding noise. I wqs able to pull over and noticed the passenger front side of the car was lower than the rest of the car. At around 75k the passenger side strut went out. Fast forward 2 months later, driving my car the same thing happened but to the drivers side. Both struts needing replaced by 80k. Definitely should be a recall on these strut... Read more
MERCEDES-BENZ
GL450
(2010) - SUSPENSION
Mar 7, 2022
Incident date: Mar 1, 2021
The vehicle has begun to "dance" and sway, abnormally on common highway bumps. It can be scary.
Incident date: Dec 5, 2021
Air ride suspension drops to bump stops when it rains. Causing the truck to have no suspension give that can cause severe damage. Truck has been at the dealers over this problem multiple times, they do not know what is causing the system to fail now. They have replaced the main components and the truck is still sitting on all 4 bump stops unable to drive.
Incident date: Oct 30, 2020
October 30, 2020, Ford issued a recall, 20S62, NHTSA recall 20V675. I have had the recommended inspection completed. However, as of March 7, 2022 (17 months later) Ford says the replacement parts are not available and they don't know when they will be available.
Incident date: Mar 4, 2022
Independent service center diagnosed vehicle safety concerns confirmed rear subframe rust.
Incident date: Feb 26, 2022
Dash lights went out and windows stopped working (incident date is for dash lights). Clocks are often blank. Clearly there is an electrical/wiring issue. I have complained about it to the dealer at the 5k check, 10k check and the 15k check. At the 15k check they reset the radio! Also when turning right it feels like the front wheel is curling under the vehicle and makes a terrible sound (... Read more
Incident date: Mar 6, 2022
Bike threw code c0063. Vss fault. Limp mode. While researching possible causes I see this problem appears to happen with quite a few bikes
Incident date: Mar 5, 2022
Have experienced a violent shaking ("death wobble") on multiple occasions while driving at highway speeds. When this occurs, the steering wheel and entire vehicle wobbles/shakes and the only way to stop it is to quickly reduce speed. This has almost led to multiple accidents while driving at highway speeds.
LAND ROVER
RANGE ROVER SPORT
(2015) - SUSPENSION
Mar 5, 2022
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
My 2015 Supercharged Range Rover Sport 5.0L V8 has unexpected rhythmic body movements while stationary. One side goes up and down then the other side goes up and down. This repeats every few seconds the whole ride, obviously more noticeable when stopped. You don't know if the dynamic system is working or not. It can push your car further in to the turn when it does it on a turn. If you are used to... Read more
Incident date: Mar 4, 2022
On more than one occasion I experienced a violent shaking while driving on highway speeds. The incident happened out of no where. I had my child in the backseat so I tried to slow down quickly not sure if made it worse but the shaking / wobbling didn’t stop till came to a complete stop. I was in fear of our safety so i got of the highway pulled aside and checked my superduty for suspension or st... Read more
Incident date: Feb 12, 2022
Front suspension does not have adjustable Camber. The wheels have a negative Camber that is outside of Lexus specification. This causes a very large uneven wear inside of tire, which is not noticeable from the exterior of car. Owners will be unaware, when checking the tires, that the inside of tire is worn to a point that can cause the tire to burst. Car was sent to the dealer, and they confir... Read more
Incident date: Nov 19, 2021
Creaking/popping noise from passenger rear side of vehicle at 24,574 miles along with a grinding noise coming from the front driver side wheel. Took to dealership twice and was told there is not a rear axle just independent struts and shocks. Very concerning and not sure if a wheel is gonna fall off. I've seen other forums that have been having the same issue between the years 2017-2019. Please re... Read more
Incident date: Nov 12, 2021
My truck developed a severe steering problem. It is called the “Death Wobble” and is a harmonic vibrating and shaking of the front end and steering wheel. While traveling down highway 93 near Kingman AZ we experienced the first episode. It starts when the truck crosses over an uneven joint in the pavement or something like that. It happens while going about 65 MPH and starts vibrating and gets... Read more
Incident date: Mar 17, 2021
Front tires bald and worn out in a circular pattern in less then about 4000 miles tires were brand new then purchased another set of 2 new front tires and again tires were bald and in some area they had a circular pattern after 2000 miles
Incident date: Mar 3, 2022
On 03/03/2022 I purchase a new 2door jeep wrangler s 2022 at the Victoria dealership in Texas. During the test drive, while driving on the highway at 70 mph, I expressed my concern about the steering wheel acting out and feeling loose. It was a very short drive. The dealership personnel reassured me that everything was fine with the car and I would be safe while driving it. I was ready to drive ba... Read more
Incident date: Feb 13, 2022
The left front fore link assembly broke while I was driving approximately 30mph. See photo. The car made a bad vibration noise when braking or driving over a bump. I was barely able to drive it back home. The car did not have braking ability. I had to have it towed to the nearest Tesla Service Center (80 miles from my home). If this failure had happened at high speed, I imagine this could have re... Read more
Incident date: Mar 3, 2022
On high speed turns when you hit a bump just right the steering wheel/column shakes violently and the entire front end vibrates to the point where it feels like control of the vehicle is lost.
Incident date: Mar 4, 2022
The frame has rusted so bad it has completely separated from the body. The Ranger frame rusting is a known problem but it has not been recalled like the Toyota Takoma has been.
Incident date: Feb 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, he hit a bump on the highway and experienced and the vehicle experienced the death wobble. The contact stated that the vehicle began to violently shake until the vehicle came to a near-complete stop. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2022
The front end suspension system , and it is available for inspection. The vehicle will not stay in one lane when crossing any uneven surfaces, potholes, or road transitions. Upon contact the wheels will bounce, skip, and turn immediately and sharply and can be felt on the steering wheel. Corrections have to be made with a tight grip on the wheel or the car will in fact turn sharply, and it has. Th... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
I have experienced the very common problem of Death Wobble several times. Uncontrollable shaking of the steering wheel.
Incident date: Nov 1, 2020
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Explorer. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V675000 (Suspension); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer wa... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2015) - SUSPENSION
Mar 3, 2022
Incident date: Feb 3, 2022
Cars under carriage subframe is completely rotted. All suspension parts are detached from under carriage subframe. Vehicle is unsafe to drive.
Incident date: Mar 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2004 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated that the vehicle intermittently lost motive power with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that an abnormal noise would emit from the suspension. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and she was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provide... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
March 1st 2022 driving at highway speed on Rt 495 S in Massachusetts truck suddenly began to violently shake front end side to side. I was forced to brake, slow down till shaking stopped. Luckily cars behind me and to my right side were able to avoid hitting me. I pulled off highway and checked for something broken or loose. In forward and reverse I couldn’t find anything obvious. Will take my... Read more
Incident date: Jan 31, 2022
The contact owns a 2022 Vanleigh Beacon RV. The contact stated while driving at 60 MPH and looking at the rearview mirror, he noticed smoke at the top of the rear end of the RV. The contact pulled to the local Pep Boys and parked the RV. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the rear passenger suspension had dropped to the ground. Additionally, the contact noticed that the undercar... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Oct 28, 2021
I was on vacation with my family and pulled over to the side of the road to get something from the back and the service abs electronic light came up. it was intermittently coming on and off. it really dampened our trip because i have been stranded with electrical issues in this truck before. my family was scared the brakes were going to fail and we reduced our trips into the mountain areas we had ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 28, 2022
The contact owns a 2005 Jeep Liberty. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH, the suspension suddenly failed, causing the front end of the vehicle to drop down and the vehicle became undrivable. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the front driver's side lower ball joint had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was notified ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2015 Cadillac SRX. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V473000 (Suspension) and the vehicle was taken to the local dealer where the recall repair was completed. The contact stated the next day, the stability traction control warning light and the ABS warning light were illuminated. The contact notified the local dealer of the failure. The contact associ... Read more
Incident date: Mar 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Taurus. The contact stated upon having the tires rotated on the vehicle, the independent mechanic informed her that both the rear driver's side toe link and the rear passenger's side toe link were fractured. The contact notified an unknown dealer, who informed her that there were unknown recalls associated with the failure; however, her VIN was not included. The vehicl... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The rear anti-sway bar is missing the driver side bushing, bracket and bolts. It is available at my home for inspection. I will not drive the vehicle (Forest River FR3 motorhome) until I can replace the bushing and bracket. The vehicle is very unstable in winds or when the vehicle is passed by a large vehicle. This creates and unsafe driving situation as the vehicle is pushed to the shoulder of t... Read more
Incident date: Feb 8, 2021
The contact owns a 2020 Volvo VNL-860. The contact stated that her husband was driving at 65 MPH and towing a 53-foot trailer, and the steering wheel would overcompensate while making adjustment, left or right to stay centered in lane. The failure lead to constant steering adjustments. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2022
The front struts and links have had to be replaced at 41,000 miles on a vehicle purported to have upgraded off-road build.
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
Driving down the road on highway hit a slight bump and the whole front end started bouncing (death wobble). Vehicle was uncontrollable and had to come to a complete stop before vehicle front end would stop bouncing. Took to dealer and they replaced the steering damper. I don’t know if this fixed it yet but everything I am reading says it only fixes it for a short period then it comes back. This... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2021) - SUSPENSION
Mar 2, 2022
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
1.It's not stable to drive in highway. Problem starts at around 55mph. 2. When I stop in traffic light suddenly rpm goes up and car jumps forward. It happened several times. The car was warm and in drive mode. I'm sure it shouldn't do this. Now when I stop in traffic light and pedestrian crossing in front of me, every time I put it to neutral and hold brake, in other ways just holding brake somet... Read more